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NEA Grant supports upcoming recording
Cedille is pleased to share that the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded a grant in support of Black Being, an upcoming recording project featuring a recently co-composed work by acclaimed duo Flutronix (Nathalie Joachim and Allison Loggins-Hull). Joining Flutronix is Chicago’s leading chamber orchestra, the Chicago Sinfonietta (Mei-Ann Chen, Music Director). Black Being explores the black female experience in an evening-length music performance. For this immersive electroacoustic presentation the Flutronix duo set newly commissioned text by North Carolina poet laureate Jaki Shelton Green. Through themes of strength, sacrifice, beauty, fear, and survival, Black Being gives voice to the complexities of Black womanhood and provides a musical lens into black female cultural realities and conditions.
On the importance of recording this work, Joachim says:
“This project is a revolutionary opportunity and serves as a bold statement, by using the symphony orchestra, which is the pinnacle of western classical music … to elevate and celebrate Black women.”
Flutronix’s concert premiere of Black Being was lauded by the Chicago Tribune as “the most stunning live performance” and listed among Chicago’s Top 10 Classical Music shows of 2021. In 2022, the duo premiered the large-scale adaptation of the work (the version to be featured on this recording) with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mei-Ann Chen. Cedille looks forward to recording and releasing this project next year. Stay tuned for more updates!
Recommended
Pacifica Quartet’s final album in the American Collections trilogy – American Portraits. Bringing together touchstones of the American repertoire, American Portraits features some of the most canonical American chamber works alongside world premiere recordings of two newly commissioned works.
Winner of Cedille Records’ 2025 Emerging Artist Competition, Chicago-born oboist Oliver Talukder makes his solo recording debut with Briefly Gorgeous. Joined by pianist Moriah Trenk, Talukder presents an album inspired by themes of identity, love, family, and belonging. Drawing on his Mexican and Bengali heritage and his Chicago upbringing, the program explores where classical music intersects with Latino and South Asian traditions, creating a musical portrait shaped by Talukder’s unique story.
To celebrate the Oct. 9 release of American Portraits, the Pacifica Quartet‘s 18th album for Cedille, a playlist with a track from each of its Cedille albums, in chronological order, starting with its very first CD in 1999.